Auxiliary counter display stand



April 20, 1954 H. J. SMITH 2,676,081

AUXILIARY COUNTER DISPLAY STAND Filed April 5, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS I If H. J. SMITH AUXILIARY COUNTER DISPLAY STAND April 20, 1954 Filed April 5, 1951 INVENTOR Mfl e JJbWii/ BY W/aww zwzmW ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 20, 1954 UNITED STAT 1.1.

AUXILIARY COUNTER DISPLAY STAND Application April 5, 1951, Serial No. 219,382

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an auxiliary counter display stand for increasing the display and merchandise holding capacity of counters.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a portable auxiliary stand of knock-down construction which may be adjusted in length to fit counters already in use, having side arms that can be slipped under merchandise on the counter for supporting the stand by the weight of said merchandise, and carrying a shelf at an elevation above the counter for displaying additional merchandise without obstructing the view and accessibility with respect to the lower merchandise.

Another object of the invention is to provide a display stand of the character described, including uprights adjustably tiltable relative to the side arms, and the shelf compensatingly adjustably tiltable relative to the uprights, so that it can be made to assume the optimum inclination with respect to the line of sight of the customer.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a display stand structure in which the uprights are bridged by a longitudinal. tie member at the bottom and a shelf at the top, whereby the uprights are maintained parallel, said tie member and shelf being formed of lapping sections with length adjustment means by which the length of the stand may be adjusted to the length of the counter, the uprights themselves being formed of lapping sections with length adjusting securing means for placing the shelf at a definite desired height above the counter.

A further object of the invention is to provide a display stand structure as described, including an undivided key plate extending across the front of the shelf, lapping the joint between the sections, and being secured to said sections, for stiffening the structure.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawings which form a part of the following specification:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a display stand embodying the principles of the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation partly in section;

Figure 3 is a cross-section taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the r lation of the display stand to a counter;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the blank from which the side arm unit is fashioned Figure 6 is a cross-section taken along the line 6-t of Figure 1.

It is contemplated that the display stand will be handled by a distributor of packaged merchandise of a type for which the display stand is adapted, such for example as cartons of cigarettes, who will approach a vendor of an analogous line of goods such as candy bars, bringing with him the display stand in knock-down form, including an assortment of the reinforcing key plates of different stock sizes, offering to furnish the stand and set it up to fit the vendors counter, in return for the vendors agreement to stock and display the line of merchandise handled by the distributor.

Referring now to the details of the invention, the numeral represents the side arm unit of which there are two, one at each side. It is made from the sheet metal blank shown in Figure 5, which is folded at right angles throughout its length along the longitudinal center line 2, formed at an intermediate point in its length with the transverse slot 3 which extends fromone longitudinal edge to the longitudinal center line, and with an aligned short transverse slot i extending inwardly. The side margins 5 of the blank are folded inward against the adjacent parts of the blank to stiffen the structure. The purpose of the slots is to permit the blank to be bent along the line 6 between adjacent ends of the slots. When folded and bent, as described, that part of the blank to the right of the slots 3 and 4: as viewed in Figure 5, forms the side arm. having the base flange '1 adapted to be slipped under a tray or box 8 of merchandise on the counter, and to be supported by the weight of the box of merchandise, and having the upstanding, flange 9 at the outside of said box. That part of the folded blank which is to the left of the slots forms the lower section iii of the upright Ii, having the back flange i2 and the side flange !3, the latter being substantially in the same vertical plane as the upstanding flange 5, and having its lower corner lapping the adjacent corners of the flange 9. The lapping corners are secured by a bolt M.

The uprights are designed to rest against the back of the supporting tray or box 8, and since the back of the latter is sometimes vertical, and sometimes flares rearwardly at various angles, provision for adjusting the uprights correspondingly is required. This is done by providing a series of bolt holes it in one of the lapping corners, selectively registerable with. the single hole it inthe other, the unit being more or lessbent at the line 5 to bring the desired holes into registry.

The upper sections H of the uprights are straight pieces of material of right angle crosssection, each having a back flange l8 and side flange !9, which lap corresponding flanges of the lower section It, and each has selective bolt and hole length adjusting means through which the length of the uprights and the elevation of the shelf are determined.

The side arm units are connected at the bottom by the tie member 28, and at the top by the shelf 21. Both the tie member and shelf are made in two sections, which lap at an intermediate in the length of the stand, and are provided with length adjusting means comprising a bolt through one section selectively insertable through one of a series of holes in the other section, by means of which the length of the stand may be varied to fit counters of different length. The tie member 20 is of angular cross-section, having its longitudinal margins folded double to impart stiffness, and it is bolted at its ends to the back flanges of the lower upright section it.

The sections 22 and 23 of the shelf are similar. Each consists of a sheet metal plate having a fiat relative wide portion 2a, forming the bottom of the shelf, of suitable width to hold the merchandise packages which it is designed to display. The sheet is bent up at the front to form the front wall 25 of the shelf, and bent up at the outer end to form the outer end wall 26. It is bent down at the back to form the stiffening flange 2?, which is bolted at its outer end to the back flange of the adjacent upright near the top, as shown at 28 in Figure 2. The end walls of the shelf are overfolded at their top margins to increase their stiffness, and to avoid exposing raw edges.

The shelf 2! is normally inclined downwardly toward the front to put the merchandise which it carries within good range of visibility to the prospective customer. It is obvious that any ad- The sectional construction of the shelf 2| and tie member 26 make the stand inherently somewhat less rigid than if said members were integral from end to end, this being particularly true when the sections are pulled out to maximum length. Therefore, in the interest of stiffening the stand I provide the key plate 3!, which is a single unbroken member of right angle cross-section extending entirely across the front of the shelf and beneath its front edge, lapping the joint between the sections of the shelf. The key plate has an inturned margin 32 extending lengthwise along its upper edge, which hooks over the top edge of the front Wall 25. It also has the inturned perpendicular flange 33 along its bottom edge, which contacts the bottom 2d of the shelf, and is bolted thereto at intervals by the bolts 36, by which means the key plate is secured in place. The overhooked margin of the key plate covers the raw upper edge of the front wall 25 and reinforces the front wall upon which the customer may frequently rest the weight of his gland in picking up a, package of the merchanise.

It will be obvious from the disclosure that the display stand of the present invention can be adjusted for length by increments corresponding to the distance between the adjusting holes in the lapping sections of the shelf and tie member. The supplier will have an assortment of key plates difiering in length by the same increments, so that he can always select a key plate that will correspond with the adjusted length of the display stand.

The key plate may, if desired, be made of heavier gauge material than the rest of the stand structure. Its unbroken surface makes it adaptable for use as a sign, or to carry display advertising.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be a preferred and practical form of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the specific details of construction and arrangement of parts, as shown, are by way of example and not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. Counter mounted display stand made of sheet metal stock, adapted to be supported by the weight of merchandise trays on a counter, comprising a pair of laterally spaced similar shelf supporting members in parallel vertical planes having horizontal inwardly turned base flanges adapted to be inserted between the top of a counter and merchandise trays on said counter, a sheet metal shelf between said supporting members at their top, said shelf comprising a flat bottom, upturned front and end walls, and a downwardly bent back flange secured at its ends to said supporting member, a tie member between said supporting members secured at its ends thereto adjacent their base, said shelf and tie member being divided intermediately in a front to back direction with the divided ends of each overlapping, means for adjustably securing together the divided ends of said shelf and of said tie member with different extents of laps, to vary the length of said stand, and an undivided key plate substantially congruent with the front wall of said shelf in surface engagement with the outside of said wall and secured adjacent its ends to said shelf.

2. Counter mounted display stand made of sheet metal stock adapted to be supported by the weight of merchandise trays on a counter, comprising a pair of laterally spaced similar shelf supporting members in parallel vertical planes having horizontal inwardly turned base flanges adapted to be inserted between the top of a counter and merchandise trays on the counter, a sheet metal shelf between said supporting means at their top, said shelf comprising a flat bottom, upturned front and end walls, and a downwardly bent back flange secured at its ends to said supporting members, a tie member between said supporting members secured at its ends thereto adjacent their base, said shelf and tie members being divided intermediately in a front to back direction with the divided ends of each overlapping, means for adjustably securing together the divided ends of said shelf and of said tie members with different extents of lap, to vary the length of said stand, and an undivided key plate substantially congruent with the front wall of said shelf, in surface engagement with the outside of said wall, having an inturned top flange hooked over the upper edge of said wall, and an inwardly bent bottom flange engaging the under side of said shelf, said key plate being secured adjacent its ends to said shelf.

3.- Counter mounted display stand made of 5 sheet stock, adapted to be supported by the weight of merchandise trays on a counter, cornprising a pair of laterally spaced similar shelf supporting members in parallel vertical planes having horizontal inwardly turned base flanges adapted to be inserted between the top of a counter and merchandise trays on said counter, a shelf of sheet stock between said supporting member; at their top, said shelf comprising a bottom, upturned front and end walls, and a downwardly deflected back flange secured at its ends to said supporting member, a tie member between said supporting members secured at its ends thereto adjacent their base, said shelf and tie member being divided intermediately in a front to back direction with the divided ends of each overlapping, the lapping shelf sections thus formed constituting an adjustable slip joint, means for adjustably securing together the divided ends of said tie member with different extensions of lap, to vary the length of said stand, and an undivided key plate in surface engagement with the outside of the front wall of said shelf, bridging said slip joint and secured to said shelf at points beyond said slip joint at opposite sides thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 309,951 Hoffman Dec. 30, 1884 363,339 Kidder May 17, 1887 1,402,929 Herpst Jan. 10, 1922 1,900,250 Mitchell Mar. '7, 1933 2,020,503 Hanson Nov. 12, 1935 2,297,133 Burkhardt Sept. 29, 1942 

